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Invest in your people and you will be rewarded [By Nadine Jazmati]

Emotional Competence in Business and People Management

Regardless of the size of your team and organisation, the secret of your success to attract and to engage with your internal and external stakeholders remains predominantly a matter of choice in the attitude you decide to adopt.

Applying emotional competences to manage self and others is an investment of time, efforts and resources that you might not consider a priority in the current economic turmoil situation; however, it helps address the question that most leaders ask themselves: “Would investing in people raise their performances and subsequently, business growth?”

The answer to that question will really depend on how you see yourself as a leader and the level of self-awareness, self-management and social awareness that you have. The diagram below highlights the connections of the four aspects that constitute the Emotional Competence in a person.

Both Personal and Social Competences are fundamental for any team or organisation leader who wishes to practice authentic leadership in recognising people’s values and motivation at work. From there, leaders can assess individuals’ compatibility and fit with organisational values. This approach helps determine and identify the right people that will drive the business to success. These leadership competences can be summarised as follows:

SOCIAL COMPETENCES

PERSONAL COMPETENCES

The process of applying the Emotional Competency Framework to achieve the desired results consists of the following steps:

The key factor to accomplish this process is a close working relationship between management and the different parties involved. Leaders engaging stakeholders to strengthen their emotional competence can potentially reap many benefits on personal, organisational and business levels such as:

Transparency in work and communication

Increased productivity and business growth

Positive morale and strong motivation to achieve personal and team objectives

In Asia, evaluation of top candidates is still mainly attributed to hard skills, relevant experiences, and educational background. However, companies are increasingly encouraged to shift their focus in their recruitment and employee evaluation practices to embrace the current change of trends where emotional and social intelligence makes the difference between a highly effective leader and an average one. The real benefit comes from the 360° view into the behaviours that demonstrate these competences. It helps managers and professionals create a competitive advantage for their organizations by increasing performance, innovation and teamwork, ensuring the effective use of time and resources, and building motivation and trust.